Page 42 of Two of a Kind
They sat in silence, just the two of them at the scenic overlook, enjoying ice cream and the twinkling lights of the valley below. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to ask, but at the same time, he didn’t want to ruin the moment. Being there with her, enjoying such a simple pleasure, he felt relaxed and content for the first time in weeks.
She held the tub of chocolate marshmallow out to him and reached for the cherry vanilla. “Despite what you think,” she said softly, “I wouldn’t have said anything. Not to her, not to anyone.”
He believed her. Any lingering doubts he’d had concerning her motives had vanished back at her house.
“But now ... she’s not going to let this go, Spencer.”
“It’s not as bad as all that, is it?”
She snorted indelicately. “You know how your father tries to run your life?”
He nodded.
“Well, he’s got nothing on my mother. She took one look at you and saw her whole future.”
“That’s not unusual,” he told her truthfully. “Most people see opportunity when they look at me. Except you,” he mused.
Kayla didn’t say anything for a long time. “What is it you want from me, Spencer?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. What I do know is that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, and that I acted like a complete ass and owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have said those things.”
“Apology accepted,” she said. “I probably would have thought the same thing if I were in your shoes.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Sate?” she asked.
He nodded.
“No,” she said with sad smile. “No regrets. But it can’t be more, you know that, right?”
He frowned. No, he didn’t know that. Most, if not all, the men he knew had mistresses. It was not only acceptable, it was expected. But that was in his world, not Kayla’s.
“Because I’m engaged?”
Her lips quirked. “That is kind of a deal-breaker.”
“What if I wasn’t?”
“You are.”
“But, what if I wasn’t?”
She shook her head and took the now-empty container from his hands and put it in the bag with hers. “It still wouldn’t work.”
“Why not?”
Another exhale. “I’m not what you need.”
“What if you’re what I want?”
“You’re used to getting what you want, aren’t you?” She gave him a sad smile. “Just because I don’t regret our time together at Sate doesn’t mean my life is entirely without regrets. I have no desire to add to them. Let it go, Spencer.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. His first instinct was to disagree and convince her otherwise, yet he held back. He didn’t know anything about Kayla O’Connell’s life prior to their paths crossing a few weeks earlier.
The drive back to Brandyville was a silent one. Neither of them missed the slight movement of the drapes when he pulled into the driveway.
Kayla seemed as reluctant to leave as he was to let her go. How much of that was not wanting to leave him versus not wanting to face her mother? He couldn’t blame her. From the little bit Kayla had said and his own first impression, he didn’t envy the third-degree interrogation she would probably be subjected to.
